Results 6,541-6,560 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I welcome the Bill. However, I deplore the fact that the Minister of State, who is a decent man, is complicit in undermining the constitutional role of the Seanad, since we will not have proper time to investigate this issue fully and table appropriate amendments. I shall not go on about this, though, because it means I would be wasting my time. This needed to be addressed for a very long...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I will end on this point. Although the judge may decide again to vary the instalment order at the resumed hearing, no specific obligation is imposed on the judge at the outset to inform the debtor that he or she may seek a variation of the hearing. The Cathaoirleach's bell is not quite in rhythm with the prose.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: This would be a helpful reminder for many debtors. I am doing the vocals, and the Cathaoirleach is doing the drumming.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Why does Senator White not tell us?

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I have a question for the House. On a point of order, if the Cathaoirleach told the House what he said-----

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I am sorry, but this is a point of order. The Leader told the House that there would be no guillotine. Then the Order of Business, as agreed by this House, indicated there would be no guillotine, so what is happening here is illegal.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: The Cathaoirleach is required to obey the ruling and the decision of this House this morning, namely, that there would be no guillotine and that there would be time for amendments. That was agreed on the Order of Business.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Can the Leader explain to the House why it is possible to have a half hour sos-----

Seanad: Business of Seanad (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: -----between the end of Committee Stage and the commencement of Report Stage and not to have a sos in order that proper amendments can be tabled on Committee Stage?

Seanad: Business of Seanad (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: This is treating the House with absolute contempt. I have been a Member of this House for 21 years and I have never experienced anything like it in my entire political career.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I called for a manual vote.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: This is typical of the chaos. It is impossible to follow the amendments which include amendment 1, 1a and a1. Nobody has the slightest clue what is going on.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I deeply dislike elections, which are a horrible experience for politicians. I have never called for one before, but we need one now because of the disgraceful behaviour of the Government and the way in which it is treating this Parliament. We are moving away from a democracy and towards a Stalinist era of closed courts in which people cannot be represented and which they must attend on the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: It will not stop that.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: And we can send them to jail as well, without a trial.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: That was Senator O'Toole's idea. I just copied it.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation, on which I also contributed on Second Stage. I mention in the presence of the senior Minister that the legislation appears principally to be a response to the McCann judgment. I recognise also that Ms Justice Laffoy issued a very good judgment in the case. I wish to put at the centre of this debate the human...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: The Minister did not draft it. It was Senator Regan, the fausseur. Is the Minister disposed to accept this amendment? It is so good, I assumed it came from the Minister. However, I think the preposition has been left out. It looks to me almost like a conciliation process - the kind of thing that sometimes happens on the way into court when parties agree and no blood need actually be...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: It is a very good story, but I think it was the creditor.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I add my voice to that of Senator Bacik. I compliment her on getting this amendment passed. On behalf of the House, I thank the Minister for showing this degree of flexibility. It is a very important point, which a number of us made on Second Stage. Senator Bacik put the amendment down, argued very clearly for it and, obviously, impressed the Minister and his advisers. It strengthens the...